Justice Achieved For Abuse Victim

Specialist child abuse lawyers at Irwin Mitchell secured a vital settlement for a lady who was sexually abused by her teacher.

The abuse started shortly after Wendy started secondary school. The teacher sexually abused Wendy regularly in a classroom at the school and continued until Wendy left the school at the age of 16.

Wendy hid the abuse for many years. She went on to study at university and obtained part time employment in an attempt to live a normal life. However Wendy suffered significant psychological difficulties as a result of the abuse and found it very difficult to cope with life. She started to pay privately for counselling and eventually revealed to her counsellor what had happened to her. Wendy then felt able to seek legal advice about what had happened to her. Unfortunately, the police did not take a criminal case forward against the offender.

Wendy made a civil claim against the council in charge of the school as they were legally responsible for the actions of the teacher.

Wendy approached specialist child abuse solicitor, Rosanna Thorne, to represent her. The council argued that there was no proof that the abuse occurred. However Wendy had kept text messages from the teacher which acknowledged that the abuse had happened.

In addition, Irwin Mitchell was able to track down former pupils at the school who gave evidence in support of Wendy’s case.

After starting court proceedings, a meeting took place between Wendy’s representatives and the council which resulted in Wendy achieving some compensation. The sum accounted for her experiences, the private treatment she had paid for and for the future treatment she required.

In relation to the case, Rosanna Thorne said: “This was a very sad case concerning a lady who had to use her own savings to access treatment she so desperately needed in order to come to terms with what happened to her.

“The award has reimbursed Wendy for this and has enabled her to access further treatment, which will allow her to finally take steps to move forward with her life.”

Our child abuse solicitors are committed to pursuing cases to the best possible outcome, without causing any additional psychological trauma to those affected. Call 0370 1500 100 to talk confidentially to someone about making a claim or visit our Abuse & Criminal Injury Claims page for more information.

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